Long TV Story

When I left you yesterday, I had begun to tell the tale of my non-Uverse world.  I only got wind of my increased cost by reviewing my upcoming deduction from AT&T.  Maybe it would have been received a little better had they told me up front but NOOOOOOOOO!  I had to hear it the sneaky way.

Hence my plot was hatched -- find a less expensive way to watch TV.  I've never been the kind of viewer who had all the extra channels like HBO, Cinemax, etc.  I watched very few channels.  So, hey.....why am I paying for all those channels I never, ever watched???  Answer -- I shouldn't.

Here I was watching every stinking Housewife out there.  Miserable, back-stabbing, whiny women who couldn't care less about what I was going through in my life.  Why in the world should I be so wrapped in them??!!

So I did what any sane modern person would do -- I posted a question on Facebook.  First answer was from my fiber friend Rita -- get a Roku and Hulu Plus.  Now I did know what Hulu Plus was but I'd never heard of a Roku.  I Googled, asked around a bit and quite a few of the people I know knew about Roku and even more had Hulu Plus.  I checked Costco and sure enough they had them so I headed over there Saturday.  I got a little bit more information while I was there -- if you buy a SMART blu-ray player or TV you can receive the Hulu Plus, etc. options through your wireless internet.  HMMMMM, more to ponder.

I pushed my shopping cart all through the store before I made my final decision.  I bought a Roku, antenna, and a small Samsung flat screen TV for my Craft Cave and an antenna and Sony SMART blu-ray player for my living room TV.  Remember you need either a SMART TV or blu-ray player, or a device like Roku to get your TV stations from your wireless internet router.

Normally I struggle with setting up TVs and their various accessories.  I trace it back to my first experience hooking up a VCR to a TV -- all I got was a fuzzy screen.  Never tried again.  Usually I leave tasks like this to my roommate but I was bound and determined to do it myself -- and I did!  Ok, minimal swearing, a few 'have to walk away' moments but eventually it was all working like a top.

Now the first two months of Hulu Plus and the first month of NetFlix are free.  Going forward each subscription will cost $7.99/month -- way less than Uverse.  Now this option isn't without a bad side -- limited live sports -- no Red Wings or Tigers games unless they're on the local TV stations.  You have to live within 25 miles of a TV tower to use the antennas (I do, thank goodness).  So far I'm loving it.  I can listen to Pandora while I sew -- how pleasant is that!